The National Health Care Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR) (2012) identified three key themes. Topics covered include: quality and access to health care is suboptimal, particularly for minority and low-income groups; overall quality improves, access deteriorates and disparities do not change; and urgent attention is warranted to ensure continued improvements in: quality of diabetes care, maternal and child health, adverse events, disparities in cancer care, and quality of care among southern states. The 2012 NHQDR is a comprehensive report that implies changes are underway. must occur at several levels of the health system and public policies. The report implies that the health system must become more accessible to all populations and that disparities in the quality of care must decrease. Health care providers must evaluate access to care, the quality of treatments and their effectiveness. Meanwhile, public policy must support funded programs that will improve access to care and support preventive services. As health care providers, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) should be actively involved in efforts to eliminate disparities. APRNs should conduct research to determine health disparities in their community using the Department of Health's national and local database. APRNs must report results to local health care providers and political leaders and then initiate changes based on the results. APRNs could write culturally relevant health promotional publications on diabetic disease management and make these publications available in public health clinics and primary care clinics. , local parishes and senior centers. Literature should be available in multiple languages...... middle of document...... promote cultural competence. The presentation should be tailored to the specific population or cultural groups served by health care providers; it should award continuing education credits and provide written materials including relevant online resources. Planning and implementing a breast cancer screening event in a predominantly African American community is one way ARPNs are able to address disparities in preventive care. The event must be publicized in local social centers, parishes and other religious establishments. APRNs should collaborate with local health care providers to ensure that follow-up care is available to address any clinical findings. /search/results/nhqrdr/nhdr12/